Sails & Stripeys With Captain Craig
If you’re chasing world-class Blue water action out of Exmouth, you want to be aboard All the Gear No Idea Sport fishing with Captain Craig — a Black Magic Tackle ambassador who lives and breathes game fishing. Craig sold his house, bought the boat “Black N Blue” and ran her the long way home around the top of Australia to make a life from chasing marlin and sailfish, and every day on the water proves why that gamble paid off.
Exmouth is a filthy-good place to fish: steep nearshore drop-offs, warm nutrient-rich currents and bait-packed seas bring big stripeys and sails right to the boat, often in predictable seasonal pulses. The water’s clear, the fish are hard-running and highly visual, and with a solid local charter and tournament scene you get plenty of chances to hook into proper billfish. That combination— accessibility, consistency and quality — makes Exmouth a rare gem for sports fishermen.
Onboard with Craig, you’ll get more than a run-of-the-mill charter. He tailor strips to skill level, runs top-line gear and backs a strong catch-and-release ethic. His favourite method? Bait-and-switch for marlin — it’s all about the theatre: the build-up in the spread, the split-second when a marlin lights up and rockets through the lures, and the pure chaos that follows. Watching a fired-up marlin eat is the kind of rush that keeps blokes coming back.
Craig’s best memory? That first huge marlin on the new boat while bringing her home from Coffs Harbour — a 900lb black marlin hooked on 37 kg stand-up gear, the first marlin ever landed on the boat, and a lesson in how mates, timing and a bit of guts make lifelong memories. It’s the stuff legends are made of, and it’s the reason he wants to put more people onto their first marlin every season.
He won’t give away all his spots — and why would he?
Exmouth’s consistency means you can target billfish year-round, which is rare. Craig’s goals are simple: keep growing the charter, get more people onto that first marlin, dial in the techniques and push the standard for what’s possible out of WA waters. Long term he wants to explore unknown seamounts and deep water grounds off the coast — to find an Aussie equivalent of Wanganella Banks where the marlin bite is off the charts.
For anyone starting out, Craig’s advice is classic and practical: keep it simple, spend time on the water, learn from others and work out what works for you. Fish the way that suits your style, try different things, learn the basics and don’t be afraid to make mistakes — that’s how you get better and how you start making your own stories.
Gear Craig swears by? The Black Magic Equalizer harness and gimbal for stand-up marlin fishing — essential in his book. And his short-term plan is just to get more time on the water chasing bigger fish, refining the charter and keeping the stoke alive for every client who climbs aboard.
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